Customer success

Bowman in Iraq

Bowman has now been on operations in Iraq since April 2005. The 12th Mechanised Brigade were the first to use Bowman operationally, after being converted to Bowman during 2004.

General Dynamics UK sent a team to Iraq to support the Brigade on operations. Reports about Bowman from officers and soldiers on operations in the Gulf have been very positive.

Cpl Rumsey communicating with Harris HF on Saudi-Iraqi border patrol “Operational tempo is improved by secure, guaranteed communications, and we had that at Brigade level down to section level”, said Brigadier John Lorimer, the Commander 12 Brigade. Bowman’s situational awareness capability came in for praise, too. The Brigade’s Chief of Staff, Major Rupert Jones, believes that “the ability to see the location of units in contact immediately speeds things up and saves lives.”

Signallers in the Brigade Signals squadron were pleased with the reliability of Bowman, which worked well in the heat. Lt Col Ben Edwards, CO The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, speaking in BATUS during pre-deployment training, said that the clarity and distance of communication with Bowman had been “a revelation – much much better than anything we’ve had before”.

During OP TELIC 7, Brigadier Marriott, Commander 7th Armoured Brigade gave his opinion that “The potential of Bowman is immense, the reality is very good. We’ve only used a very small part of the system, particularly in Iraq, but you can feel, see and really sense where it’s going to take us and it’s great.”

Bowman Update: Quotes and Video

“Bowman, as a secure voice communications system, supports commanders and soldiers in the conduct of operations. Situational Awareness (SA) and PUDT have proved their worth in Basra City.”

From the 7 Armd Bde near the end of their tour in Iraq in Apr 06.

“…digitally secure BG and Coy nets with full Situational Awareness (SA) is a world apart from the comms infrastructure of the early TELICs. SA has been a real success with nearly all deployable call signs being tracked for the majority of the tour.”

4 SCOTS Battlegroup

“Bowman is giving us a real edge on operations. The situational awareness Bowman delivers means that decisions are better informed; that we are more agile and more effective; and that soldiers are better able to their job in often difficult circumstances. Bowman is proving its worth on operations.”

Assistant Chief of Staff, Capability Development

“All in all, 3 PARA BG is impressed and happy with Bowman.”

Regimental Signals Officer (RSO) 3 PARA Battlegroup

Dutch Marines Go Digital

Integrated Marines Communications and Information System – NIMCIS. NIMCIS is a programme to equip the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps (RNLMC) with the Bowman C4I system, which is being rolled out to the UK Armed Forces by General Dynamics UK.

NIMCIS provides the RNLMC with a secure voice and data communications infrastructure capable of supporting a range of network-enabled command, control, communications, computing and intelligence systems. In addition to a standalone system capability for the Marines, a key feature of NIMCIS is the interoperability it provides between the Netherlands and UK forces, as allies and as part of the UK/NL Amphibious Force, as well as interoperability with other allied forces. NIMCIS replaces a variety of legacy communications systems within RNLMC.